Adoption of soil and water conservation practices under different farming systems in the Sahel region of

northern Mali

Birhanu Zemadim&

Gracious Diiro, Monica Petri, and Ramadjita Tabo

Background

Climate change/climate variability remains a major development challenge in developing countries, particularly in the Sub-Saharan Economies (SSE)

The majority of the population in SSE resides in the rural areas and derive their livelihoods directly from the agricultural sector.

Sustained livelihood improvements in many of the rural communities require implementation of interventions that promote adaptation to impacts of climate variability

Strategies for effective climate variability adaptation and mitigation need to be gender inclusive, targeting both male and female farmers.

Cntd…Background

A study was conducted in three farming systems and considering gender of the head of the household with the objective of:

• Studying perceptions of causes and effects of climate variability• Evaluating adoption of Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) practices, and

identification of barriers to adoption

Formulation of robust policy interventions and programs aimed at promoting adaptation strategies for the agricultural sector require:

• A better understanding of how farmers perceive climate change/variability • The adaptation measures used by farmers and • The perceived effects of climate variability and the barriers to its adaptation.

Bryan et al., (2009)

Methodology

Three farming systems were considered in the Sahelian region of northern Mali

• Rice farming system, Cereals (sorghum and Millet) farming system and Mixed farming system.

Data was collected from 297 farmer households (average number of HH is 13), 16 NGOs and 11 focus group discussions (FGDs) in eleven villages in Mopti region.

Results and Discussion

Perception of Climate Variability by Farming System

Climate Event

All households (n=281)

Rice system (n=58)

Dry cerealssystem (n=140)

Mixed system (n=83)

Freq. %Freq.

%Freq

.%

Freq.

%

Stronger and violent wind 234 83.3 44 75.9 121 86.4 69 83.1Increased temperature 210 74.7 39 67.2 106 75.7 65 78.3Poor rainfall pattern 159 56.6 23 39.7 92 65.7 44 53.0Reduced vegetation cover 148 52.7 22 37.9 89 63.6 37 44.6

• Majority of farmers perceive variabilities in climate in the past 10 to 20 years• Stronger and violent wind is the most reported climate event

Awareness, Knowledge and Practices

Cntd..Results and Discussion

Perception of Climate Variability by Farming System and Gender

Climate Event

Rice faming system (n=58)

Dry cereals system (n=140)

Mixed system (n=83)

Female headed

Male headed Female headed

Male headed

Female headed

Male headed

n % n % n % n % n % n %Stronger and violent wind

6 54.538

80.911

73.3 110 88 8 72.761

84.7

Increased temperature

7 63.632

68.1 9 60.0 9777.6

5 45.560

83.3

Poor rainfall pattern 5 45.518

38.3 7 46.7 85 68 7 63.637

51.4

Reduced vegetation cover

5 45.517

36.2 8 53.3 8164.8

8 72.729

40.3

No significant differences in perceptions of climate variabilities between male and female headed households in the three farming systems

Cntd..Results and Discussion Perceived causes of climate variability

There is lack of clear understanding of the causes of climate variability

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

All households Male headed Female headed

Perc

ent o

f Far

mer

s

Other Factors Wrath of gods Inadequate rains

Impacts of climate variabilityMajority of the farmers (96%) indicated that climate variability affected their farming activities• The number is always

higher for female headed farmers

0.91

0.92

0.93

0.94

0.95

0.96

0.97

0.98

0.99

1.00

All households Rice farming system Dry cereals system Mixed farming system

Prop

ortio

nof

Farm

ers

Farming System

All households Male headed female headed

Reported Impacts• Increased poverty and reduced purchasing power of households• Increased food insecurity and malnutrition• Loss of livestock and low agricultural productivity• Increased pest infestations and other weather related pathogens

Degree of Household Vulnerability to Climate Variability

Weather Shock Index

All households

Farming systemRice

systemDry

systemMixed system

F-Statistic P-value

Rainfall pattern0.73

(0.24)0.73a

(0.20)0.70a

(0.27)0.77a

(0.19) 1.77 0.17

Drought0.72

(0.30)0.77a

(0.22)0.68a

(0.30)0.74a

(0.33) 1.68 0.19

Violent wind0.64

(0.26)0.57a

(0.19)0.64ab

(0.30)0.69b

(0.21) 3.70 0.03

Flood0.53

(0.34)0.56ab

(0.23)0.46a

(0.36)0.61b

(0.36) 4.34 0.01

Other Shocks0.17

(0.30)0.40 a

(0.35)0.06 b

(0.20)0.22 c

(0.33) 16.31 0.00

All shocks combined 0.49

(0.14)0.48a

(0.11)0.46a

(0.14)0.56b

(0.15)15.64 0.00

• Significant difference with respect to the various weather shock. indexes, except rain and drought.

• Significantly higher shock in the mixed farming system (0.56).

• Households residing in the mixed farming system are, on average, more vulnerable to impacts of climate variability

Higher weather shock among female headed households than male headed households in the rice system

Climate Variability Adaptation Methods by Sahelian Farmers

Farm based methods• Soil and water conservation• Fertilizer application• Crop diversification• Livestock diversification and• Tree planting

Non-farm based methods• Utilization of weather forecasts• Information and participation in

non-farm income generating activities

• Zai was the most common SWC measure used by the households (42%). The likelihood of adoption of any of the other SWC measures is less than 25%.

• Significant variation was observed in adoption of most of the SWC measures; except for vegetative barriers, contour bunding and wells.

• More adopters of the SWC measures were observed in the mixed farming system

SWC measure (1=used, 0=No)

All Rice Cereal MixedF-value

P-value

Zai0.42(0.49)

0.24a

(0.43)0.34a

(0.48)0.69b

(0.47)19.88 0.0000

Artificial ponds 0.23(0.42)

0.22ab

(0.42)0.16a

(0.37)0.35b

(0.48)5.64 0.0040

Vegetative barriers

0.23(0.42)

0.22a

(0.42)0.20 a

(0.40)0.30a

(0.46)1.51 0.2231

Contour bunding0.23(0.42)

0.22a

(0.42)0.19a

(0.40)0.30a

(0.46)1.73 0.1786

Shallow Wells 0.23(0.42)

0.22a

(0.42)0.19a

(0.39)0.30a

(0.46)1.99 0.1393

Stone bunding0.21(0.41)

0.24a

(0.43)0.14 a

(0.34)0.33b

(0.47)5.93 0.0030

Dams and dykes0.20(0.40)

0.24a

(0.43)0.13 a

(0.34)0.30b

(0.46)5.28 0.0056

Ravine creusée0.20(0.40)

0.22a

(0.42)0.14a

(0.34)0.29b

(0.46)4.06 0.0183

Adoption of soil and water conservation practices

• Fertilizer management practice: Another important measure utilized by farmers to combat the impact of climate variability

Cntd..Adoption of soil and water conservation practices

Fertilizer TypeAll

householdsRice

systemDry

systemMixed system

F-value P-value

Organic manure 0.495(0.501)

0.310 a

(0.467)0.443a

(0.499)0.711c

(0.456)13.52 0.0000

Mineral fertilizer 0.665 (0.473)

0.431a

(0.500)0.721b

(0.450)0.735b

(0.444)9.56 0.0001

Organic manure & Mineral fertilizer

0.391(0.489)

0.172a

(0.381)0.379b

(0.487)0.566c

(0.499)

12.06 0.0001

• Significant variations in fertilizer adoption across the farming systems• Higher adoption rates observed in the mixed farming system

• Barrier: Lack of finances (cited by 29.5%) and limited labor (28%)

Conclusion

• Limited awareness on the causes of climate change/variability • Farmers require proper knowledge and understanding of the real causes before they

may decide to adapt to climate change. • Need to design communication strategies that create public awareness

• SWC measures are the most critical entry points for improving land resource resilience and productivity.

• The measures are labor intensive and require capital investment.• People in the region, especially youth, migrate to urban areas and gold mines thus

reducing labor supply to the agricultural sector.

• The low uptake of adaptation practices may hamper farmer households from achieving sustainable resilience to climate variability.

• Agro-forestry options and residue management to reduce soil erosion due to stronger and violent wind.

• Low cost solar pumped water lifting structure to improve water access, production of high valued crops and improve the nutritional status of the household.

• Combination of different technologies, i.e. promotion of heat tolerant cultivars, improved livestock breeds adapted to the local condition, and agro-advisory services through weather forecasting

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